Australian foreign minister warns on future Pakistan tours

World cricket chiefs will have to think very carefully before allowing future tours to Pakistan following a deadly attack on Sri Lanka's team.

Written by Agence-France Presse

Read Time: 2 mins

Canberra:

World cricket chiefs will have to think very carefully before allowing future tours to Pakistan following a deadly attack on Sri Lanka's team, Australia's foreign minister warned on Wednesday.

"This attack will send shock waves through the cricket community, will send shock waves through the ICC (International Cricket Council)," Stephen Smith said a day after gunmen killed eight people and wounded seven players in Lahore.

"The ICC, Cricket Australia and other cricketing authorities will need to bear and weigh these events very heavily in mind when they come to contemplate tours to Pakistan," Smith said, condemning the attack as "atrocious."

The Australian government last year supported Cricket Australia's then controversial decision to cancel a tour to Pakistan, a decision that Smith said had been vindicated by Tuesday's bloody attack.

New Zealand on Wednesday cancelled their tour of Pakistan, saying no international team was likely to go to the troubled South Asian nation in the current climate.

And the ICC late Tuesday cast doubt on Pakistan's hopes of remaining a co-host of the sport's 2011 World Cup, saying the Lahore attacks had changed the global landscape for the game.

Smith told reporters the decision as to whether the World Cup could go ahead in Pakistan as planned would be a matter for the ICC, but issued a call for extreme caution in making that decision.

"These terrible events will need to be borne uppermost in mind, not just by Australian cricketing authorities, but by international authorities," he warned.

The minister said that none of the five Australians travelling with the Sri Lankan cricket team, including an umpire, had been injured despite earlier reports to the contrary.

Smith said he had spoken to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and offered Australian police assistance to help track down the culprits behind the attack.

"I indicated to him that if it was of any assistance, the resources of the Australian Federal Police would be available for investigative and forensic purposes," the minister said.

"I made the point that Australia would stand shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan at a very difficult time for Pakistan, both economically and in terms of security."